It really doesn't matter what you think or what you think of what I think, but I am of the opinion that Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff is a lyrical genius with a voice that can break your heart with just one line. It is vulnerable but powerful; fragile yet full of conviction. He is a masterful lyricist with an almost conversational narrative style that makes listening to his songs like reading intimate and soul-baring diary entries. Okkervil River's 2005 album Black Sheep Boy was among my favorite from that year and has only gotten better with time. Their latest The Stage Names will most likely fare no differently this year.Musically The Stage Names is a powerful melding of accessible pop-rock hooks and subtle alt-country instrumentation. Strings sing out in all the right places and melodic brass flourishes also appear now and again to great effect. It is (overall) a tighter album full of more standard rock conventions that Black Sheep Boy. Where that album's frayed edges seemed likely to unravel with just about every crescendo, this one is a bit more controlled. And while the music is fantastic, it is Sheff's vocals and lyrics that take center stage. Nowhere on The Stage Names is that more apparent than on "Savannah Smiles." Maybe it is only because with a 2 year old daughter I can picture this exact scene in my mind many years ahead, but this song got me a little teary eyed. Or maybe it is just the realization that my daughter will unknowingly break my heart for the rest of my life.
The nine songs on The Stage Names play out almost like little vignettes or movie scenes and make direct reference to terms like "camera close-ups," the various "scenes" of a film, and (obviously) the conflict of hiding behind "stage names" when the actors' own fractured lives are much more desperate and "real" than anything a "movie" could convey. It is this acute awareness and separation in Sheff's lyrics that (as previously stated) make it more like reading a diary than watching actors. No matter how "real" the film is, the diary entries it is based off of are that much more sobering.
The Stage Names is full of dark and melancholy subject matter that is fabulously juxtaposed against a brighter musical backdrop that includes finishing off the album by working the Beach Boys classic "Sloop John B." into the closing track. It is a brilliant move that only solidifies its place as one of the year's best and truly essential releases. It is out now on the ridiculously awesome Jagjaguwar label.
MP3 | Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not A Movie... The Stage Names
MP3 | Okkervil River - Savannah Smiles The Stage Names
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2 Comments ↓
I have been a fan for several years and have loved this band more and more at every progression. They are simply amazing. And tomorrow I will finally see them live in Chapel Hill!
Thanks for the great review. It is dead on.
Record of the year so far, definitely.
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